[crazy7crab]

You can end the cycle El! You don’t have to kill yourself to release yourself from the trauma of abuse!

Kills herself

Look for these signals! Complete these steps! You can love yourself AND be loved! You’re not “different” and you WILL fall in love!

Literally nothing happens

[wllbyers]

byler is endgame because if the writers can choose to ignore plot points then so can I

[sofixt0k]

Guys, if I could pass on to you the certainty and the almost blind faith I have in Byler, I would—but honestly, it’s something so deep that I don’t even know how to explain it.

[boyfriendsmalec]

Characters in stories have misbeliefs that need to be disproven.

Will says he won’t fall in love, and then he does.

Will says he’s not a wizard, and then he gets powers.

Will says Mike is “his Tammy” (because he believes Mike is straight) and that too will be disproven.

[gayofthefae]

I'd just like to point out that only two main personal conflicts remain. Jonathan and Nancy wrapped theirs up early, Dustin and Steve too, Lucas and Max have reunited.

But would you look at that...what are the two that are unresolved? Oh, right! The two primary characters that need to FIGHT. [Also known as the two characters who have one realization left because initial plans always fail in battle before a last minute revelation as I talked about in all my recent posts!!]

El and Hopper have not made up.

And Mike and Will have not talked.

El needs to realize she is doing exactly what she begged Hopper not to.

Will needs to realize he deserves romance, not just acceptance.

And THEN they can defeat Vecna. Narratively, as I said, they can't now. By virtue of how every battle - literal or symbolic [and this one is literal] - in any story has to be written, they MUST fail, be currently LACKING in one additional revelation.

And would you look at that. They are just about the only two characters with a major personal plot point left unaddressed going into the finale.

[chamsburger]

BY THE WAY, Will coming out and rejecting himself saying Mike “isn’t like him” is a setup to be PROVEN WRONG

Will already believes he’s been rejected, and Mikes POV is hidden, so where else could the story possibly go hmmm????

[chamsburger]

HAD to doodle mike apologizing to will bc. will deserves it😒

mike has been so confusing these past seasons

[chamsburger]

the idea that tomorrow we’re going to see mike learn about will’s feelings

[chamsburger]

this is such a divided ship war no matter WHAT happens in these next episodes the duffers need to LOCK their doors and sleep with one eye open

[dyingcleric-deactivated20260325]

stranger things fans somehow still not realizing that Will has already had his heart broken by Mike MULTIPLE TIMES. in front of the Wheeler's house in the rain. at the airport in Lenora. in the Rink-O-Mania. in the back of the van. in the Surfer Boy Pizza. he's even visibly dejected in the tunnels because he can't get a read on Mike after he shoves him. he already KNOWS how it feels to be rejected by Mike in some capacity (even if Mike hadn't intended for this to be the case) and it Very Obviously does not make him feel good! So whyyyyyy are we still saying "Mike rejecting Will is necessary for his self-acceptance arc!" like no, actually! a rejection would not lead him to the final phase in his arc, it would send him right back to the beginning.

[chamsburger]

i can’t imagine how it must feel for people who shipped byler in seasons 1-2

the process of “oh this is a cute ship” “OMG will is canonically gay?????” “wait will is in love WITH MIKE?”

“WAIT THIS COULD ACTUALLY BE A THING-“

and now they’re endgame. what a crazy journey

[chamsburger]

so robin mentions a snowball turning into an avalanche and were just NOT going to see a snowball become an avalanche? yeah okayyyyyy🤨

[chamsburger]

and if i said Murray could’ve sat there but they purposefully put him in between Will and Mike then what. then what

[chamsburger]

byler rant (positive)

I dont have any byler doubt so i thought id share my thoughts with the class in case it helps anyone

The best way to explain my feelings is that i think byler 1000% SHOULD happen, and that the story has no other place to go given the circumstances and the painting lie needing to be revealed. it breaks down m/leven's relationship and sets byler up perfectly. any other ending makes no sense, and i have faith in the duffer brothers because it doesnt take a genius level writer to recognize these things. if they have the balls to make will, the main character, explicitly gay and in love with his best friend, they'll have no problem showing another character to also be gay.

The Duffers have explained in interviews before that they avoid social media and think that listening to fan criticisms and "noise" disrupt the story and ruins the writing. To me, the Duffers pandering to straight audiences just to make the show """digestable""" is NOT POSSIBLE

I dont think this story has ANYWHERE to go except for byler!! since 2022 ive always tried to understand byler from an "objective" "analytical" standpoint, and i generally don't entertain the small details and hints that "could possibly" be related to byler….. i try to focus on the explicit facts of the series as much as i can…. and the truth is, ALL ROADS point to byler.

Will is nottttt getting over mike. they already had will sort through his feelings of rejection in season 4. he accepted mike didnt love him back, therefore confessed his feelings through the guise of el, and the audience sees the heartbreak in his eyes when mike gave his "i love you" speech to el. that season was specifically focused on will's feelings for mike and how they are seemingly UNRECIPROCATED. if will's arc was "moving on" from mike, they wouldve left it at that. have will move on, and have season 5 focus on him accepting himself and not needing mike…. except thats not whats happening. not only has will already accepted himself halfway through season 5 (therefore confirming his arc isnt completely going to be "accepting himself" and that theres more to the story), were seeing for the first time, will have HOPE that mike COULD ACTUALLY reciprocate. we've all noticed that… hence #mwtfdydgate. realistically, where ELSE could they go with this? have will's hope be crushed, after we've already seen him heartbroken over mike? Even in season 3, when will was destroying castle byers after mikes "Its not my fault you dont like girls". weve already SEEN will grieving. him truly believing that hes not loved by mike. in a realistic scenario, are we really going to see the exact same thing happen in this season, except worse, because now will has hope? would that be impactful and satisfying? NO! it doesnt take a genius level writer to know that this doesnt work. What would a "Sorry Will, you know I dont feel that way" do for the narrative? NOTHING?????? even though in recent seasons mike has been very clueless to will's romantic feelings, throughout the series mike has ALWAYS been in tune with will. thats one of the MOST DEFINING characteristics of their friendship, especially in contrast to mike and el's relationship (where they are never on the same page)! So when we have been shown this consistency time and time again thorughout the series, do we really believe they're suddenly going to have mike NOT understand will for the first time at the END OF THE SERIES? reject his feelings and declare that he's going to be with El together forever? WHAT!!!!!!!! thats so silly.

this contributes to why im so confident in byler: mike and el CANNOT stay together, and i wholeheartedly believe that a m/leven breakup is the best decision for the characters and trajectory of the story, and i believe its going to happen. mike is obviously insecure about his position in the relationship (as discussed in the van scene), and the wound CONTINUED to deepen as his entire "love confession" was based ON A LIE! once the painting is addressed and will's lie is revealed, everything will unravel and the trajectory of the characters will become clear as day. Mike will have to realize that the confession he felt SO VALIDATED by, so SEEN by, was coming from his best friend. Why would the painting be used as a plot device if the outcome was going to remain the same (mike staying with el, or will's feelings remaining unreciprocated)??? If that were the case, the painting would have NO significance, and the duffers would be better off not addressing it at all. Does that make sense? The whole existence of the painting reveal means that something HAS to happen. something DIFFERENT. something we haven't seen before.

From what we've seen of season 5 so far, and from the teasers (especially the jimmy fallon teaser clip), we KNOW the terms that mike and will are on. they feel so much closer than they did in season 4. They are back to the solid friendship foundation they had in season 2. we also KNOW the terms mike and el are on. they act oddly distant, very ambiguous to the point where we dont even konw if theyre DATING OR NOT! the foundation of m/leven is unstructured, based on a lie, and once everything is revealed, the loose foundation of their relationship will CRUMBLE. so, based off of these circumstances, what do we really think is going to happen? mike and el stay together forever? really?

No, Mike and El won't stay together. No, Will won't have an epilogue boyfriend.........People talk about Will getting over Mike as if we didn't hear the entire love confession in the van? "You make her (me) feel like I'm not a mistake at all. like I'm BETTER for being different. and that gives me the courage to fight on." "I need you Mike. And I always will." HELLOOOOOO???? Are these the feelings that people think Will is going to move on from? NO! Do we REALLY think moving on is an option for Will? after hearing that?? Based off of those words, Mike HELPS will ACCEPT HIMSELF! He makes will feel better for his differences!!! thats so beautiful and rooted so deeply in their friendship and thats NOT SOMETHING WE CAN MOVE ON FROM. It's not a simple crush. It's not idolization. It's not Tammy Thompson, and its NOT realistic to say Will can "get over" these feelings.

ive never had byler doubt. i know realistically in my heart and head that they are THE best option to close out the show. do i know how they're going to execute it? NO! i dont! but i know for SURE mike has to have an explicit reaction. will is explicitly confirmed gay and in love with his best friend, and if those feelings have to be addressed, they are going to be addressed in an explicit way. the van scene confirmed this. when the painting gets addressed, and the lie is revealed, its GOING to be explicit. because you cannot deny what will said in the van….. so if mike finds out, an explicit reaction is prompted. theres no "lukewarm" "implicit" reaction to such a huge twist of information, so i dont expect it to be. i cant say for sure how theyre going to handle it, because im not a writer, and im not the duffers, but if theres one thing ive learned from the few years ive shipped byler its that they were meant for each other. they are absolutely complimentary characters that deserve to and WILL have an ending together. they are intertwined and have been since the day they met, and separating them by rejection is absolute character death that would do a disservice to the entire show and what it stands for, and i DONT believe thats going to happen.

The ending became clear the second the van scene happened. The painting is a GENIUS plot device because it leads directly to the end of m/leven, and the introduction of byler. Hitting 2 birds with one stone!

the second the painting was shown, and the second m/leven suddenly became reliant on a LIE, the ending was confirmed. since all of these characters are so intertwined with this lie, there is absolutely NO chance in hell that everything just… stays the same after everything is revealed? the fact that the painting is being used as a TWIST, as a REVEAL, literally tells us blatantly that it means shit is going to GO DOWN, and it WONT be the same. please if someone has any reasoning to why things WOULD stay the same after a reveal like that i'd love to hear it. i like to keep an open mind…. but when things become as explicit as this, i wholeheartedly believe that all roads lead to byler.

byler joy is real

[chamsburger]

mike and el’s relationship REALLY died when they paralleled mike to…fucking dr. brenner?!

in that moment mike reminded el of her abuser and people still want them to be together??? helllllooooooooo!!!????

[chamsburger]

stranger things driving us crazy by INTENTIONALLY making mike and el scenes ambiguous 😭😭😭😭 they can never give us a direct answer they really are stringing us along til the very end huh

(byler endgame bc if mileven was endgame they would’ve confirmed it by now they easily could’ve kissed during the field scene)

[chamsburger]

mike remembers will answering “yes” when he asked him to be his friend 😭😭 but will actually just nodded 😭😭 because he didn’t say it 😭😭😭 but he didn’t have to 😭😭😭😭😭